Private Christmas
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: Percy and Penelope find the perfect place to celebrate Christmas alone. Set during "Chamber of Secrets".


Private Christmas

When Percy Weasley made the decision to stay at Hogwarts over the winter break, he told his brothers and sister it was because he had a duty as a prefect to support the teachers in their endeavor to protect the students from whatever horror had been unleashed from the so-called "Chamber of Secrets".

It wasn't exactly a lie. He _was_ concerned about the attacks, and if there was anything he could do to help Professor Dumbledore and the other instructors, he would be more than happy to offer his assistance in anyway he could. (If he happened to be presented a Special Award for Services to the School in the process, all the better.)

However, the true reason why he decided to stay behind was his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater.

Upon waking Christmas morning, Percy smiled as he thought of the curly-haired Ravenclaw prefect. She had promised him a special present for Christmas, but he didn't see a package from her amongst the small pile of gifts he found at the foot of his bed. Perhaps she intended to give to him personally.

That was fine with him. After opening his other presents - as she did every year, his mother had sent him one of her hand-knitted jumpers - he pulled a box out of his trunk and set it on the bed. He hoped Penelope liked it. He hadn't much money to spend, but he put a lot of thought into finding her the perfect Christmas present.

He also pulled out a clean pair of jeans, changing out of his pajamas into the jeans and his new jumper. None of the students bothered wearing robes over the break, but he still affixed his prized Prefect badge to the front of his sweater, his heart swelling with pride as he did so. Even in his second year as a Prefect, the honor still felt as fresh as it did the day he received the letter informing him of his appointment. To complete his look, he neatly combed back his red hair, making certain not a strand was out of place before heading down to the Christmas feast.

He spotted Penelope as soon as he stepped into the festively-decorated Great Hall. She was sitting at the Ravenclaw table with a small group of her fellow housemates who had also decided to stay at Hogwarts over the holiday. Percy would have loved to join her, but nobody knew that he and Penelope were dating.

It was his decision to keep their relationship a secret - not that he had anything to be ashamed about. True, a few Gryffindors might disapprove of him dating someone from a rival house, but at least Penelope wasn't in Slytherin. That truly would have caused a scandal!

His brothers - namely Fred and George - were his main reason for not going public. If the twins ever found out he had a girlfriend, Percy would never hear the end of their teasing, and he cringed to think of the pranks they would play on poor, unsuspecting Penelope.

So, instead of joining Penelope and her friends, he sat down at the Gryffindor table with his siblings, Hermione Granger, and the famous Harry Potter, who most definitely was not the Heir of Slytherin, no matter what the rumors were saying. As always, the meal was delicious beyond words, but Percy frowned when he noticed his sister Ginny had barely eaten a thing. In fact, despite the fact that it was Christmas, she looked positively glum.

"Here, Ginny, have some more pudding," he said, scooping another serving onto her plate. Ginny had always loved Christmas pudding.

However, she pushed the plate away, muttering that she wasn't very hungry.

He sighed, wishing he knew what was bothering her so much. It wasn't like her to be so withdrawn and moody. He had confided his concerns about Ginny to Penelope a couple of weeks ago, looking for a female perspective on the matter. Penelope seemed to think she was experiencing the usual changes girls went through around Ginny's age, but Percy couldn't help thinking it was something more than just the onset of puberty.

He didn't force her to eat anymore, though, distracted from his thoughts by another round of laughter coming from the twins, who had been sniggering and pointing at him ever since he had sat down at the table. "Okay, I have had just about enough of you two," he said, fixing them with a hard glare. "What is it about me that you find so bloody hilarious?"

Had they somehow found out about his relationship with Penelope? But he didn't see how they could. They had always been careful about not being seen together outside their prefect duties and the private moments they stole in empty classrooms between lessons.

"Nothing, Pinhead!" Fred chortled, with George echoing after him.

But Percy caught Ginny attempting to hide her giggles behind her hand, looking a bit more cheerful than she had before. Her eyes were staring down at his prefect badge, which somebody had bewitched to read "Pinhead" instead.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Percy deadpanned, not amused at all by the prank. He pulled out his wand and performed a spell to return the badge to its original condition. He then turned his attention back to the twins, who were laughing even harder, and said, "Five points each from Gryffindor."

That shut down their laughter.

"What for?" George demanded to know.

"Tampering with the private property of a prefect."

"You have no proof that it was us," Fred said. "Besides, it's winter break. You can't take points when school isn't officially in session."

"Yeah. Have a heart, Perce. Where's your Christmas spirit?"

Well, it was Christmas, after all… "Fine, I suppose I'll let it go this time," Percy said, standing to leave. "Consider it your Christmas present. Now, if you will excuse me, I have prefect duties to attend to."

He left the Great Hall and headed back to the Gryffindor dormitory to grab Penelope's present from his room, passing Ron, Harry, and Hermione in the entrance hall along the way. The three of them were huddled together, discussing something amongst themselves in low voices he couldn't hear clearly. Oh, he hoped they weren't planning on doing any more "detective work". He had already caught them once coming out of the girls' bathroom (of all places!) on the first floor, looking for clues about what had Petrified Mr. Filch's cat. Though they had managed to stop Professor Quirrell from stealing the Philosopher's Stone last year, Percy thought it best that they not push their luck. Searching for the Chamber of Secrets was a job for teachers, not second-year students, no matter how smart and talented a witch Hermione Granger was.

When he reached the dorm room he shared with the other sixth-year Gryffindor boys, he found a letter from Penelope sitting next to his wrapped present. He eagerly tore open the envelope and read the short message inside, which had been written on familiar stationary that smelled of vanilla fragrance - Penelope's favorite.

_Go down to the dungeons. I'll be waiting. Love, your Penny._

Percy arched an eyebrow. The dungeons? He had to admit it wasn't the most romantic location for a Christmas date, but it was one of the few places in the castle they could be certain no Gryffindors or Ravenclaws would accidentally come across them, as the Slytherin dormitory was located down there. Shrugging, he tossed the letter in his trunk where nobody else would find it, then grabbed Penelope's gift from the bed, hid it underneath his jumper, and headed back downstairs.

The entrance hall was empty now, which was fortunate since Percy had no idea what he would say if somebody discovered him sneaking down to the dungeons. He quietly made his way to the entrance and slipped inside, walking straight into darkness. Unable to see, he fumbled around until his hand wrapped around his wand, which he then used to cast the _Lumos_ spell. A small spark of light burst from the end of the stick, giving him a source of illumination.

"That's better," he muttered to himself as his eyes adjusted to the light.

But where was he supposed to meet Penelope? She only mentioned the dungeons in her note; she never mentioned a specific meeting place. Did she intend for him to wander around until he found her?

"Penelope?" Percy began making his way down the stone steps, his wand held high in front of him. "Penny, are you here?"

He couldn't call for her too loudly. After all, the Slytherins were known for their love of spreading gossip, whether it was true or not. No need to give them fuel for the rumor mill. However, it appeared the dingy corridors were deserted. Neither Penelope or any Slytherins were in sight. With a sigh, he started his journey through the labyrinth that made up Hogwarts' dungeon area, making a mental note of every turn he made and hoping that he would come across Penelope eventually.

After walking around for a while with no luck, though, he began to wonder if maybe the letter was one of Fred and George's infamous pranks. Had the twins managed to uncover their secret relationship after all and engineered things so that he would spend all of Christmas on an endless search for Penelope rather than snogging her under the mistletoe? Yes, doing something like that would be right up their alley…

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" Percy said to himself, changing his mind about letting his brothers' previous offence at the Christmas feast go unpunished. If Fred and George were going to pay back his goodwill by playing tricks on him, they didn't deserve his mercy, even if it _was_ Christmas.

Percy turned around and was about to head back to the Gryffindor dormitory to give his brothers a piece of his mind when he heard a door creak open and a loud whisper coming from his right.

"Percy!"

Startled, he jumped, but calmed down once the light of his wand fell across Penelope's beautiful face. "Oh, Penny, it's you," he said. "You surprised me."

"Were you perhaps expecting the monster from the Chamber of Secrets instead?" she asked with an amused look on her face.

"No, of course not." He smiled and gave her chaste kiss on the cheek. "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas! Come in. I've been waiting for you." She stepped aside, showing him inside. "Do you like it?"

"Wow…" was all he could say.

The room was at one time a jail cell, used to punish misbehaving students back when discipline at Hogwarts was much stricter, but thanks to Penelope's handiwork, it looked far cheerier than a cell had any right to be. A small Christmas tree, decorated with glittering red and blue ornaments - in honor of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw colors, no doubt - stood in one corner of the room, while a matching wreath hung on an opposite wall. Strands of white lights twinkled merrily from the ceiling, and she had placed a festive rug in the center of the room, covering the cement floor. The rug matched the linens on the bed where Penelope had taken a seat.

"I've been sneaking down here once a day to prepare this place for today," she said. "I almost got caught by a couple of Slytherins yesterday, but fortunately they weren't very bright. It wasn't hard to fool them."

"Must have been Goyle and Crabbe," Percy said, familiar with Draco Malfoy's idiot cronies. "They barely know their right from their left."

"Anyway, I'm glad you like it. I want today to be…special."

He thought he detected a hint of pink coloring Penelope's cheeks, giving her a rather attractive glow.

"Oh, I almost forgot; here's your present," he said, pulling her gift out from underneath his sweater where he had hidden it.

Penelope took the box from his hands, placed it on her lap, and began carefully tearing open the candy-cane-striped wrapping paper as Percy looked on, wringing his wrists. Oh, he hoped she liked it!

He needn't had worried. A small, delighted gasp escaped her lips as she lifted the lid off the box, revealing the worn-out copy of _Secrets of the Norse Runes_ by Ingrid Johansson nestled inside. "I can't believe it," she whispered in awe, brushing her hand against the faded cover. "You found it; you actually found it!"

Percy blushed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It's not in the best condition," he admitted. "I wanted to get you a nicer copy, but I didn't have enough money…"

"No, it's wonderful, Percy. Absolutely perfect." Jumping up from the bed, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love it. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He smiled and glanced over at the tiny Christmas tree in the corner, expecting to see her gift to him placed underneath it, but there were no other presents in sight. Perhaps sensing his confusion, Penelope released him from her embrace and stepped back.

"Um, would you mind turning around for a moment?" she asked, brushing a wayward curl behind her ear. "I need to prepare your present."

"Sure."

Intrigued, Percy spun around so that he faced wall with the wreath. He wondered what the present could be…

"No peeking," Penelope ordered with a wag of her finger when she caught him trying to sneak a quick glance over his shoulder.

He whipped his head back around, chastised, and stood with his hands clasped behind his back, obediently staring at the stone wall. Though he couldn't see anything, his ears caught what he thought might be the occasional rustling of fabric. At one point, Percy also thought he heard Penelope casting a spell, although her voice was too low and soft to comprehend the magical words.

"Okay, I'm ready," she finally said, giving him permission to turn back around.

He drew in a sharp breath. "P-Penny?"

Thinking his eyes must be playing tricks on him, Percy took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with the handkerchief he always carried in his pocket before placing the frames back on his nose. However, the same sight remained standing in front of him - Penelope, garbed only in a silky red camisole and matching knickers.

It wasn't often that Percy was struck speechless, but he could do nothing but stare at his girlfriend in silent appreciation. Not for the first time, he wondered how in the world he had gotten so lucky, to be the boyfriend of such a beautiful and intelligent girl.

In front of him, Penelope began fidgeting with her hair, and Percy came back to his senses, realizing how rude he was being, ogling her like a horny teenager - which, admittedly, he was, but that was no excuse. "Sorry," he apologized, scratching the side of his nose. "You just look so incredible…"

"I do?"

She smiled and stepped forward, placing a hand over his chest. His heart was thumping like it was the twelfth day of Christmas.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked. "I mean, are you sure?"

In response, Penelope sat back down on the bed and patted the spot beside her, inviting Percy to join her. She then directed his attention up to the ceiling. "See that?" she asked, referring to the evergreen sprig that hung directly over Percy's head. "You do know what happens when you step under the mistletoe?"

"Yes, I believe I do," he replied with a grin, the two of them embracing and falling back onto the bed.

It was one Christmas Percy Weasley would never forget for as long as he lived.

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm sure I'm not the only one who has wondered what Percy and Penelope were doing in the dungeons on Christmas Day in _Chamber of Secrets_, so this is my version of events. I hope you enjoyed it. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!


End file.
